Author's Note: Sorry, I didn't realize it switched to block format when I uploaded it. I am going to try to redo all the chapters. Thanx for the reviews!
Glorí paused, perched upon the rock like a hawk looking from a tree at its prey. Her sharp eyes searched but did not find. She had seen something, perhaps a small group crossing the river into her territory, she was sure she had seen them!
She shook her head slowly, drawing her eyes away from the deserted plains before her. I must be losing it. she thought to herself as she settled into a sitting position on the rock.
Glorí sat on a large boulder placed precariously close to the edge of a great cliff and next to a strong waterfall. Below the cliff sat a lake, the place where the fierce river emptied itself. From the lake ran another river.
The cliff was many feet high, nearly a hundred. It overlooked many miles of land, mostly covered in dense trees and a few plains. From her position a person would be able to see anything within the boundaries of the elves' land, if their eyes were strong enough to pierce the trees. The river ran through the great tangle of wood, continuing past the eye could see until it emptied into the great sea.
At the moment Glorí was content to watch the sun go below the horizon. It was night before she finally got up to leave, turning swiftly into the trees at the right. She did not need a light to show her the way, the paths were as familiar as her own reflection.
As she ran blindly she was joined by a great white form, bounding over the worn path beside her. It was almost a mile back to their camp, and they ran the entire way. Upon arriving they were both breathing heavy as she turned towards the dog at her right, hands upon her knees.
"I won." She breathed out heavily. In an instant the dog was on top of her trying to get to the soft flesh of her stomach. Glorí held on to the heavy fur of his neck to stop him from doing so, laughing at his vain attempts. When the beast finally gave up she shoved him off and sat, washing the sweat from her face and neck with the cuff of her tunic.
She sat gazing at the worn out dog beside her. His bright fur shown in the fresh moonlight, making him glow dimly. His entire being seemed to shine from within, all but one small patch on the muscular chest. In that spot was the sign of the hawk, there from birth. It was in the exact likeness of a hawk so that it seemed it flapped it's mighty wings with each breath the creature took.
Glorí had always wondered at the meaning of the symbol. She knew he was the leader of his kind, was it possible that this small imprint was the claim to his title? It was not common for the wargs to have birthmarks, and she had not meet one that had it upon his body except for Theo. Perhaps it was just a mystery she could never solve, she thought as she stood.
"Well Theo, how does dinner sound?" She asked the still panting creature as she started to prepare a fire in the middle of their camp. Within minutes she had a steady, warm fire going, a pan of venison sizzling merrily on top.
As she waited for her dinner she rummaged in her pack. When she removed her hand she brought with it a book, covered and bound by leather. She opened it to the last page that was marked and began to read. It wasn't as if she needed the words to tell her the story, for she remembered it as clear as her own. It was the tale of her parents, their lives and love, only leaving out their tragic demise some hundred years before.
Her mother had been a human, her father an elf. How they had meet was a secret held deep within their own hearts. But the men had dispised them for their love, a woman and an elf was unright, weird, and just not done. The two had tried to live in the cities of the elves, but some had the same feeling there, and did not trust this outsider and mortal. In the end the lovers had sought solace in the woods just off the Misty Mountains. They had built their home, and had entwined their lives within this small glade.
Two years after their retreat to the confines of the forest there was born a child. Another arrived three years later. Yet both were boys, and both were men. Finally, at the end of the seventh year there came a girl, an elven girl. They had named her Glorí after the want of men, simply changing the spelling. Sixteen years after that happy day came a day when the smiles were lost forever.
The next part was left out, for it was unknown to the author, unknown to Middle Earth.
The youngest child was riding a horse to the top of the cliff while the others waited anxiously at home. This was the day when the young one would take her first kill from the wild stag that ran thick through the land. When she had come to the top, she had seen the thick smoke whirling up from the ground of her family.
She remembered well how she had turned her horse and urged him through the dense forest, praying beyond hope that there was something she could do. But she was too late. The house her parents had spent the better part of their lives together in was laying in ruin, smoke pouring from the windows and flames licking at the sills. Three bodies lay near the burning wreakage, arrows pretruding fromthier back, their faces buried in the red grass. The bodies of father and brothers, but not of her mother.
When she saw the hope here she had gained the top of her mount once more and set out on the trail the foul orcs had left in their wake. Little more than a mile away she found her mother, lying half naked and beaten in the path. Glorí had dismounted and was at her side all in the same instant, the horse still trying to stop even though its rider had already jumped from its body.
She remembered taking the still form of her mother in her arms, the tears leaking from her eyes as she watched patiently for her mother's eyes to open. She did, the normal joy in them gone, the flame extinguished.
"Glorí..."
"Shhh. It will be alright. I'll take care of you. just hold on, please, hold on." Her voice cracked with pain and the sobs, her tears falling upon her mothers bruised and bloody face.
"Its too late, my little one. You know that. I need you to be strong, for me and for your father." She didn't know! She didn't know of the fate of her husband and children. The cruel innocence that shattered Glorí's heart so that she could not tell her mother that they he was gone, that they were gone. "I will, mother. I will."
Her mother grasped at her tunic with her fingers. Glorí hugged her tightly as her mother tried feebly to return the embrace.
"Take care daughter. Don't fret. Perhaps some day we will meet again, in dreams or after. Rem ember all I have taught you. Find your way in life, follow your father's lessons. Take this." She had said, nearly gasping as the pain began to overwhelm her as she pointed to a chian around her neck. "It is the sign of my house, you will always be welcome there, no matter what."
Her body spasmed in Glorí's arm, the pain leaving her to be replaced by cold numbness. Glorí nodded if only to give her the solace she needed for her last moments of life. "I love you, mom. I do."
"I know. I love you too. Good bye is never forev--" Her last words were cut off as her body started to fail her, her breath came in short gasps her eyes began to flutter. Glorí could think of nothing better to do at that moment and so began to sing, an old lullyby her mother had sang to her as a child.
Hush my love now don't you cry,
Everything will be all right,
Close your eyes and drift in dreams,
Rest in peaceful sleep!
If there's one thing I hope I show you...
If there's one thing I hope I show you...
Hope I show you...
Just give love to all,
Just give love to all,
Just give love to all!
Oh my love in my arms tight,
Everyday you give me light,
As I drift off to your world ,
rest in peaceful sleep!
She sang the words over and over until the body had gone lose and was beginning to cool. Then she stopped, letting her mothers' silent body gently to the ground, wishing her a silent farewell.
Glorí could not stop the tears that sprang up to her eys at the memories. There was too much pain in them. Theo seemed to sense the mood coming from his friend and had crept closer to her, even before the tears had began to spill.